[Eric]

I re-watched 'White Christmas' tonight , it's kind of a tradition each
year . Is anybody else here also captivated by Vera Ellen while she's
on screen ? She was a fantastic dancer - too bad she stopped her acting
career so soon . I also loved her alongside Danny in 'Wonder Man'
and 'The Kid From Brooklyn' . Four fabulous entertainers who aren't
with us anymore makes me kinda sad ...

[Dan]

I always watch White Christmas pretty early in the holiday season, generally
within a week of Thanksgiving, to help get me in the mood of the holidays.
Those four were indeed fabulous, and Vera Ellen was quite a talented person.
She was a good actress and a wonderful dancer. About the only shortcoming
she had was that she really couldn't sing, and that is why she was the only
one of the four who didn't sing their own parts in the movie.

Vera Ellen suffered from an eating disorder, and by the time White Christmas
was filmed it had gotten pretty severe. It you ever noticed in the movie,
all her outfits had high necks. This was apparently due to the
disfiguration that the eating disorder had on her neck. She refused to
allow her neck to be seen.

Of the four, she is the only one who didn't make the transition into the
late 50's and beyond, when dancing became a much smaller part of the cinema.
I believe she became rather reclusive not too long after White Christmas was
finished, appearing in only one or two more movies. It's quite a shame,
too, and at a time when it seemed her career was assured, having appeared
with Danny, Bing, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Donald O'Conner, Edward G.
Robinson, and others in the early-50's.



Dan



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